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| Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang and Trade Minister of the Asian-European Economic Committee Andrei A. Slepnev sign on December 15, 2014, a joint declaration to conclude negotiations on the FTA between Vietnam and the Customs Union__Photo: Duc Tam/VNA |
According to Vietnam’s commitments in the ASEAN Agreement, almost all import duties will be reduced to between zero and five percent by 2015, with seven percent of its tariff lines enjoying flexibility up to 2018.
1. The ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA)
Vietnam acceded to the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) in 1995 and the country has implemented its tariff commitments since 1999. Under Vietnam’s commitments in the ASEAN Agreement, duties on almost all tariff lines will be reduced to between zero and five percent by 2015, with seven percent of the tariff lines enjoying flexibility up to 2018.
In implementing its commitments, Vietnam has released the tariffs to implement specially preferential tax rates through December 31, 2014. Under these tariffs, around 72 percent of the tariff lines on the ATIGA tariff enjoy zero-percent tax; duties on three percent of sensitive products are kept at five percent. The remaining 25 percent of the tariff lines are liable to import duties of over five percent.
2. The ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA)
Vietnam joined the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) in 2002 and the nation has implemented its tariff commitments since 2005. Its commitments are made in three lists of goods: the early harvest program list, the normal track and the sensitive track...
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